lf-crown which Mr. Parsons had given
me in the train, and it seemed wiser to take the risk of being
intercepted, and to make my way to Captain Knowlton's old quarters. But
at present I stood no chance of making my way anywhere alone, and the
first thing I had to do was to get clear of Mr. Parsons and the
Loveridges.

'A lovely morning, Jacky,' Mr. Parsons remarked on Monday, as he took my
arm and led me away from the house. 'Makes me feel quite young again.'

'Which way are we going?' I asked.

'Ah, now, which way?'

'I like Oxford Street best,' I answered.

'Do you, my lad?' he cried, amiably. 'Then suppose we try Oxford
Street?'

There were a great many people in the street, and it was about eleven
o'clock in the morning when I found we were drawing near the shop which
I had planned to enter by one door and to leave by another.

'Couldn't we buy something there?' I asked.

'Where, my lad?'

'There,' I said, pointing to the chief entrance.

'That is too dear for the likes of us, Jacky.'

'Oh,' I cried, 'but I know what I could buy.'

'What?' he demanded, and I began to wonder whether I had betrayed too
much eagerness.

'An evening necktie,' I replied. 'They only cost about fourpence.'

'Jacky,' said Mr. Parsons, and I felt his grasp on my arm tighten,
'Jacky, that is the sort of shop a lad like you might easily get lost
in. He might even make a mistake in the door, Jacky. No, we won't go in
there, but I will tell you where we will go.'

'Where?' I asked, quaking with fear.

'We will go home, my lad, and I will give you such a nice little lesson
as you will never forget as long as you live.'

So we turned back the way we had come, walking towards the Marble Arch,
and I knew that if once I entered that hateful house, I should pay a
terrible penalty for the attempt which had been so easily seen through.

For the next few minutes I was utterly hopeless and helpless. But I
murmured a few incoherent words of prayer, and my head grew clearer. As
the danger drew nearer with every step I took, my courage began to
return, and I determined to make a bid for freedom. Mr. Parsons' threat
in a way defeated his own end. Hitherto the fear in which I held him had
served to cow me, to make me afraid to make a dash for liberty; but this
morning the very danger seemed to encourage boldness, and as we went on
our way with his strong fingers gripping my arm just above the wrist,
yet in such a manner that he appeared t